As an educator, I’ve always had a passion to help students achieve to their potential in a warm and caring culture. In my classroom, it is the norm for students to feel safe as they take chances in reaching as high as they can, no matter what background they come from. I enjoy instilling the belief that it doesn’t matter where we start, it matters where we finish. To finish on top, they have to be willing to persevere, show courage, and view themselves as confident and able learners. I’ve always lived by these words myself. As a professional, I felt there were more places to go beyond my undergraduate degree. Just as I told my students, I also told myself that I could finish somewhere greater than where I started. I do have a strong belief of finishing strong, and continuing to grow as a learner. This belief led me to pursue a Master of Arts in Educational Technology (MAET) degree from Michigan State University. My goal was gain new knowledge and experiences with technology to support learning in my classroom. Although I began as a regular classroom teacher, I wanted to finish as a 21st century educator. I think I have successfully accomplished this transformation. I have been seasoned with new skills, new knowledge, new leadership, and 21st century practices with thanks to all of the amazing courses I took during the program. This experience was an amazing journey and I am honored to have been a part of it.
One course that really helped my grow as a professional and educator was CEP 815 (Technology and Leadership) . This course helped me step closer to my goal because it helped me learn about the different types of leadership, understand and define a vision, and manage relationships between technology and educators. It also helped boost my confidence as it began preparing me for my future in educational technology leadership in my building. Before this class, I had always been comfortable helping and leading others. I’ve taken on leadership positions in my personal life such as becoming the Sunday School Director at my church, Chairperson of several committees in my school building, Event Coordinator of a soccer club, and more. I was under the impression that I had sufficient knowledge of what it takes to be a good leader.
After taking CEP 815, I quickly realized that in all of my experience, I’ve never really encountered any challenges or needs that involved a drive for change among stakeholders. This course enlightened me as it helped me think about how challenges really can arise and what can I do to unite and help stakeholders feel comfortable with change. In this course, we were asked to think about a problem of practice that exists among our stakeholders in our building. For me, the problem was about how many of our staff members lack the confidence to begin implementing our new technology model that our building is adopting this school year. It was important that I carefully thought about the the context of the problem we faced as well as some possible themes, or solutions, that would address the problem of practice. Without having an idea of what could help address our problem of practice, I basically would have to develop a vision for my stakeholders. Once I was clear of what was expected from the school district and understood the current situation among my stakeholders, I could then start to develop a vision for the future of my school that would support the change that we needed to make. In my vision, I needed to make sure that whatever solutions I put into place, it had to support the actual problem and create opportunity for all stakeholders to grow and succeed in their confidence of using technology to support instruction.
In my vision statement, I offer just that. It discusses different themes and solutions that will tackle our problem of practice head on. One way I propose to accomplish this vision is to provide professional development and training opportunities differentiated toward each stakeholder. During professional development sessions, stakeholders will take the time to collaborate, and find strengths and weaknesses of each individual. By doing this, we can use less of our energy by building on what they already know how to do with technology as opposed to building on complete weaknesses. As all of my stakeholders come to the table with various technology backgrounds and comfort levels, it will be important build on what we already have in place rather than start from scratch. Another theme I offer in my vision is the idea of this being a learning experience for all. It was important to address that my stakeholders were not alone in this movement, and that we would all be learning to adjust side-by-side. My vision discusses that the overall change will take time for everyone to get comfortable with and will require that we realize we will be learning not just about the technical portions, but also about the learning content right along with the students. I explain that teachers can be assured that through this learning process, some will have to start off more slowly than others in order to not feel overwhelmed or too much pressure.
Writing this vision statement was a great experience as I was able to understand the need to dissect a single problem of practice and deeply think about ways to serve all the needs among my stakeholders and ways to reach an overall goal. As a leader, I feel this course gave me more confidence to face a problem of practice and be the one to take the lead in implementing change. This level of confidence has changed my professional status in my building. I have become a leader of instructional technology within my building and have helped many staff members with questions and ideas. As the course afforded me the opportunity to create a professional development session, I am scheduled to share this within my grade-level team to give them information on taking instruction to entire new level with the use of technology. CEP 815 was perhaps the most valuable course for the personal goal I have of becoming a district-wide leader in educational technology.
Another impactful course I took during my program was CEP 820 (Teaching Students Online). The main objective of this course was to design an online course that better supported my students’ educational needs. This class complimented my pre-existing desires to teach students online and offer them opportunities to collaborate and communicate ideas beyond the traditional classroom setting. After exploring different course management systems, I chose to use Google Classroom as my platform. Here I was able to design an entire unit on sentence fluency that would be appropriate for 4th or 5th graders. The learning environment of this course was intended to be completely online and intended to offer students a multi-modal delivery of learning content, a choice of the learning content, while also giving students the chance to communicate and give and receive from their peers.
In designing my very own online course, I had to make sure that my design and pedagogical decisions would be very intentional for my students. First and foremost, I tried to design my course to be easy to navigate by not making anything appear too overwhelming. It was also important to make the objectives clear for each lesson, so that students can easily see the goal and purpose in their learning. Another design choice I made was to accommodate various learners by including a variety of modes of presenting learning material such as through video, PowerPoints, Prezi, online games, etc. I think these will also serve as a way to keep students engaged in the course. I followed the same pattern in each lesson where students had a chance to first learn, then gain experiences in what they learned, followed by practicing what they learned.
The course also provides an opportunity for students to collaborate together by offering feedback and exchange ideas through Google Docs. When creating assignments, I assigned students different types of assignments and posted due dates to help students stay timely and organized. One of my lessons offered students a variety of engaging activities to pick from, which is great for giving students a choice in practicing the learning content and also reflects the Universal Design for Learning model. This model is valuable for students as it affords them the opportunity to take charge of the learning tools that can help them take more pride in their learning and work produced as well as increase their connection to the learning content. To further support this learning model, I chose to support students in activating their background knowledge using a KWL (What do you know?, What do you want to know?, What have you learned?) chart for each lesson. By students being able to activate their background knowledge, ask any questions they have about the topic, and record what they’ve learned after each lesson makes information more accessible for students as they record previous knowledge and connect it to new knowledge. I also had an online course communications policy was posted for students to know how to properly communicate with each other in an online setting and to provide information on how to receive help and contact their instructor when needed. To further help students in the learning content, I made sure to provide many examples of what acceptable work should look like as well as rubrics for each major task.
CEP 820 was an enjoyable learning experience for me. Since the course. I’ve been able to apply what I’ve learned by creating additional online learning content for my students. So far this school year, I’ve used Google as a primary learning support tool for students to communicate and offer feedback on documents, publish their work on Google Sites, and learn more content with multiple units I've designed on Google Classroom. My students are enjoying the benefits of these tools supporting our learning goals and are practicing necessary 21st century skills such as communication and collaboration with others.
In CEP 812 (Applying Educational Technology to Issues of Practice), we were challenged to think about “wicked” problems of practice and possible solutions to these problems. In this course, I was able to work with a think tank of peers on the wicked problem of: What does it mean to teach and reinvent everything about teaching? Today in the educational field, demands of learning are definitely changing. Practical application, critical thinking, collaboration and problem solving are just a few of the skill sets in demand to prepare students for the 21st century workforce.
Our think tank brainstormed ways we could possibly prepare our educators for such a change. Together, we researched and collected information from various sources in order to to find possible solutions that would involving the use of technologies. We agreed that a significant part of the solution would agree with the with Mishra, Fahnoe, Henriksen, & the Deep-Play Research Group that stated, “There needs to be an increase in motivation where there is ownership of student learning and interest in their own success. Self-directed learning may be the solution as it increases intrinsic motivation that would allow students to be successful and meet 21st century demands”. (p 10) Self-directed learning can provide the opportunity for students to develop the needed characteristics to meet today’s educational demands. It helps them to not just learn content , but rather, take more initiative, control, and responsibility of their own learning which proves to be an imperative skill in today’s educational setting.
Our job then, as a group, was to think of how educators could facilitate it in their classrooms and partner it with technology. We found that there are many technological tools that can help teachers support student collaboration. Teachers can use their Professional Learning Networks (PLN), to reach out to other educators who might have advice or good ideas for them to support self-directed learning, or use social networking websites like Twitter. They can also use Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), conferences and webinars to guide their learning. However, teachers must take the Technology Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework into account. TPACK can help teachers to rethink teaching and use technological tools to allow students to choose the way they want to learn and successfully collaborate and network with peers in their own classroom and abroad.
Thinking about this solution of self-directed learning, it has definitely impacted my own classroom. The TPACK model acts as a foundation for me as I plan which technological tools can support the learning content and content delivery methods I need to use. As for my students, they are experiencing student agency as they set and track their own learning goals, have options of how they will practice needed skills, and are afforded the opportunity to give and receive feedback on their work with their peers. There is a sense of control and ownership when they can take charge of their learning. CEP 812 truly enlightened my view of how students can be more successful through this kind of learning experience.
Reference:
Mishra, P., Fahnoe, C., & Henriksen, D. (n.d.). Creativity, Self-Directed Learning and the Architecture of Technology Rich Environments. TechTrends, 57(1), 10-13. Retrieved from http://punya.educ.msu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Mishra-Fahnoe-Henriksen-2013.pdf